None of which answered the question. “Don’t you try to replace me. This is my op. I found the connection between Nelson and Molina. This is mine.”
Ian stopped. A long moment passed. “I don’t know that you’re right for this girl. We might only get one shot to put someone in her bed, and she’s just not your type.”
“It’s my op. I’ll handle it.” He wasn’t sending someone else in. “Besides, who the hell else are you going to get to play the boyfriend role? Adam and Jake are off the market. Sean quit. Are you planning to romance the girl?”
Ian frowned again. “Alex asked about it.”
Motherfucker. “No. You can’t be serious. Eve…what about Eve?”
Alex and Eve were divorced and had been for years, but there was no doubt in Liam’s mind that Eve still loved her husband. Ex. Even he couldn’t keep it straight. Alex had been a bloody monk since the divorce.
“Alex is trying to move on, and that includes taking one for the team. You’re right. We’re low on males who don’t mind a little play with their work.” Ian growled a little, his frustration evident. “Damn it, I don’t want to do shit like this. I don’t like having to fuck for information.”
No one with half a tablespoon of morality did, but sometimes it was necessary. Eli Nelson was a danger to everyone on Liam’s team. If Liam’s instincts were correct, he might be a danger to everyone in the world. Nelson had already attempted to sell state secrets to China. Balanced against all the danger, hurting Avery Charles’s feminine heart was the lesser of two evils. “But this case is different. This is Nelson, and we won’t get anywhere if we try to play by the rules. He wouldn’t hesitate to fuck anything he had to in order to get the information he needs. We can’t either. There’s too much at stake.”
Ian settled the baseball cap he was wearing over his head, pulling out the Oyster card he’d bought earlier. Liam found his own. The little card was the gateway to the Tube and the easiest way to get anywhere in London. “I left the Agency because I didn’t like the man it was turning me into, but I’ll admit that I need to get Nelson. I need it. Until I see that man six feet under, I won’t be able to rest. He nearly killed my brother, and he used my team to sell this country out. The Agency hasn’t done shit to bring him in, so I’ll do it myself. Which is precisely why I’ll handle the girl. Send me her file. I’ll make contact tomorrow.”
He reached out and grabbed Ian’s arm. “No, you won’t. It’s my bloody fucking op, and I’ll take the girl.”
Ian’s eyes went positively arctic as he looked at the hand on his sleeve. “Watch it. Your Irish is up.”
Fuck all. Liam took a long breath and forced himself back into his bland Midwestern accent. He’d perfected it over the years because it was better camouflage than his real accent. For the first several years he’d worked at McKay-Taggart Security, only Alex and Ian had known his real voice. He needed to pull it together. “Sorry. It’s hard being surrounded by it.”
“Yes. A damn good reason for you to be at home.”
Liam had heard this argument about a million times. “I understand the way this city works better than anyone on the team, and I still have underground contacts. My op, Ian. And my mark.”
Ian’s voice got low, his mouth firming to a stubborn line. “Just see that the reason you’re staying is the op and not the girl. What I didn’t say before, but you’ve almost certainly picked up on, is the fact that she seems amazingly innocent and is very likely to be submissive. You know the signs. She’s been painstakingly polite and she defers to everyone. When the museum docent talked to her, her eyes slid right to the floor. She’s a sub and a sweet one at that. A dangerous combo for men like us. I’m not stupid, Li. The reason you hang out with club subs is that they’re hard core and just looking for some fun. That woman in there is not looking for a good time. She’s serious, and this can only end one of two ways. One, she’s dirty and you’ll feel like shit because you’ll send her to jail or a grave. Two, she’s clean as a whistle and you break her heart because if she’s as innocent as she looks, she’ll have to fall for you in order for you to get into her bed. And you’ll feel like shit. You’ve worked backup for years. Are you really ready to take the lead?”
He’d been a pussy for years, hiding behind his teammates and letting them take all the real risks. Sure he’d gotten shot at on occasion, but running the op meant taking responsibility for the health and safety of everyone involved, and that included Avery Charles if she was an innocent bystander.
“I’m ready.”
Ian nodded. “Then it’s your op. But the minute Nelson rears his head, I take over.”